NE Court Must Hear Man’s Plea Withdrawal Request

(AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has reversed a lower court’s refusal to consider an immigrant’s request to withdraw his no contest pleas to two misdemeanors.

Yannick Yuma, a 28-year-old native of Zaire who was granted asylum to the U.S. in 2001, was convicted in 2010 in a domestic violence case. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but released the same day because of credit for time already served.

Yuma later sought to withdraw his pleas, saying he didn’t know he could be deported for the convictions. The lower court rejected the request, saying it didn’t have jurisdiction.

The state’s high court disagreed Friday, saying that because Yuma was released the same day he was sentenced, he could not have filed for post-conviction relief to be released from jail.